Sports celebrity endorsements are heavily used in China, not only by sporting goods but even products like Chinese liquor and junk food.

This weeks Ben Marcom Wednesday is a review of the some prominent sports celebrity endorsements.

Yao Ming and Guo Jingjing for McDonalds

Early this year, Yao Ming became McDonalds' global brand ambassador. He took the place of another NBA star, Kobe Bryant, who was dropped because of the negative publicity caused by a lawsuit against him for rape. According to the executive president of McDonalds, "Yao brings all qualities that McDonalds needs: youth ... full of sporting spirit and such characteristics that match McDonalds' culture and target audience" (Xinmin Daily, February 13, 2003). In this month's McDonalds promotion in China, Yao's image appears in its print ads and TV commercial for the Big Mac (juwuba).

McDonalds also invited a famous Chinese woman diver, Guo Jingjing to take act as its brand ambassador for the Chinese market. Guo is being touted as the successor of Fu Mingxia who won gold medals in three consecutive Olympic games. Guo has also been called one of the 'top 10 Chinese sports beauties' by various newspapers. A recent McDonalds' promotion claims that they will help Guo and her teammates to realize gold medal dreams in this year's Olympic games.

Chinese women's volleyball team for TCL

The Chinese women's volleyball team has always had a special place in the nation's heart: they have been one of the best-performing national sports teams since the late 1970s. After this year's team won the world championship again this year, TV set and appliance manufacturers TCL invited three team members to endorse their air conditioners: Feng Kun, Yang Hao and Zhou Suhong.

Before this, TCL used a Chinese movie star, Liu Xiaoqing to promote their TV set. (Liu had just got out of jail for tax evasion. For more on this case, have a look here on Danwei).

Most Chinese perceive the women's volleyball team as having a tradition of struggling to realize dreams, which is something TCL have played on with their volleyball player-endorsed advertisments. A recent print ad has the headline: The champion spirit is: imagine it, achieve it. TCL wants to "learn from the women's volleyball team spirit to achieve top 3 market share of Chinese air conditioners," according to Hu Lixian, general manager of TCL air conditioner, Zhongshan Ltd, (Shenzhen Business, March 12, 2004).

Liu Xiang for Kia

22-year-old hurdler Liu Xiang may be China's greatest male track and field athlete. He was a bronze medalist at the 2003 World Championships. His image has recently appeared in advertising for Korean auto brand Kia's Qianli Ma model. Qianli Ma means a kind of horse that can run more than one thousand miles in a day. The TV commercial for this car has a slightly odd slogan: "Today's No. 2 will become tomorrow's No. 1".

Why are advertisers using sports stars?

In China, before 2000, athletes seldom appeared in advertising. Most advertisers preferred using movie stars and entertainment celebrities to endorse their products.

But this has changed in the last four years, probably due to three main factors. First of all, Chinese people are paying a lot more attention to sports, since Beijing was selected as the host city of the 2008 Olympic games. Secondly, compared with movie and music stars, athletes look healthier and sportier; moreover, athletes seldom get involved or accused of being involved in the kind of scandals that frequently puts other entertainment celebrities on the front pages of the scandal sheets. Finally, except for superstars like Yao Ming, athletes are cheaper than movie stars.